NEW ORLEANS — There's new medical technology to help you heal if you break a bone.
It's a 3D printed cast, that is lightweight, and designed to be fitted exactly to you.
And now the first patient in Louisiana has one.
Serenity Cheramie is like every high school junior. She loves having fun with friends, but a year ago, that became trouble.
“I was on an ATV, and I was driving too fast, and me and my friends saw like a hole in the ground, and she turned the wheel this way, and I turned it that way, and we flipped,” Cheramie, 17, said.
The wide-open tissue wounds and break to both bones in her arm were traumatic. She was brought to Children's Hospital in New Orleans from her home in Larose.
“I mean, amputation was possibly an option at the time. It was so bad you know. Of course I said, ‘You've got to try and save the arm,’” her father Adam Cheramie said.
“I was scared, because I like my arm, but I was just in a lot of pain. So, it really didn't matter at the time,” Serenity Cheramie said.
LSU Health pediatric orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Bill Accousti, along with plastic surgeons at Children's Hospital, performed surgery. There were internal and external devices to help the shattered bones heal, along with skin grafts to help close the wound, and, of course, a cast.
“And that was horrible. Like every time I needed to itch, or something, I couldn't. And it stunk really bad,” Serenity said.
But now Serenity is the first in Louisiana to get a 3D printed cast. Doctors simply scan her arm on a smart phone app, upload it to ActivArmor, who prints the custom cast, and overnights it back.
“There are waterproof casts out there, and all this stuff, but they don't work as good as you would think," Dr. Accousti said. "This thing in particular allows complete submersion, dries off, and can be removed and replaced by the patient at will."
“I was worried about, like for the summer, I was going to be able to go swim, or go to the beach, but now there's possibilities,” Serenity said.
As Serenity continues her physical therapy, and may need more surgery, Dr. Accousti adds a warning, because of deaths and injuries to children and teens on ATVs.
“I see some pretty tragic pretty devastating injuries. To get on one without a helmet, is just terrible,” Dr. Accousti said.
When asked if she will promise not to ride ATVs this summer, Serenity replied, “Yeah, I promise.”
For now, the doctor says for children who just need a cast for a short period, will still use the fiberglass ones.
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